I was running this West London race as a test of my
current fitness ahead of Manchester marathon in April.

The course starts and finishes at Brunel University. The
half marathon involves 2 laps around the streets of
Hillingdon, and there is a 10k race that does a single
lap and starts 15mins after the half.

Not a great event to be frank. The roads are not closed,
and the 500-ish runners are forced to run on the
pavement. There are several road and zebra crossings that
require runners to slow down if they are unfortunate
enough to coincide with a car. For faster runners, the
second lap was particularly frustrating, as it involved
working your way through the main pack of the 10k race,
darting out into the road to overtake.

Most criminal of all, the portaloos at race HQ didn't
have toilet paper. Truly shocking.

If this was organised by a local club, I'd be more
forgiving, but it was put on by a professional events
company, and you'd therefore expect better for your
money.

However...my own race went fantastically well, and I have
a shiny new half marathon PB to boast about, so I
shouldn't complain too much. Makes me wonder what I could
have done on a better-managed course.